


Boys Over Flowers

by luckystars1015



Series: GinHiji Longshots [3]
Category: Gintama
Genre: All Boys 17 Year Olds, Anal Sex, Big Dick Gintoki, Bottom!Hijikata, Consensual Underage Sex, Creampie, F/M, Fic is not related to Boys Over Flower drama, Gay Awakening, Gintoki had Therapy, Gintoki x Minor Girl OC Character, High School AU, Love Triangle, M/M, Main Ship GinHiji, Misunderstandings, Mutual Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Romantic Comedy, Slightly OOC characters, Slow Burn, Top!Gin, Unprotected Sex (No condoms), idiots to lovers, major fluff, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:35:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26865256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckystars1015/pseuds/luckystars1015
Summary: Gintoki always thought that both he and Hijikata were just really good bros. They were just two normal bros who played Super Smash and joked around after school at WacDonalds. So what if they cuddled a bit while watching scary movies? And what if they shared a bed during sleepovers and jacked each other off in the morning? Bros did that, right?Okay, maybe Gintoki and Hijikata weren't just 'bros being bros' afterall.
Relationships: Hijikata Toshirou/Sakata Gintoki, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: GinHiji Longshots [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045227
Comments: 44
Kudos: 141
Collections: Gintoki's Birthday Bash 2020





	Boys Over Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Hello all! I hope everyone is having a great week with all this wonderful content flooding in with all the amazing participants from GinBdayBash 2020! I would like to thank the spectacular writing_in_the_dark, one of my co-moderators and Beta, for helping me running this gift exchange and going as far as looking over my fic. Thank you to Strawberry_Justaway who helped get this event off the ground and helped out whenever they could! Also a big round of applause to [sajtkifli](https://twitter.com/sajtkifli) who drew not one, but two spectacular pieces for my work!
> 
> This entire gift exchange and GinHijiGin Week would have not been as fantastic without them and all the other participants!
> 
> With that being said, I hope you all have fun reading this fic ;D

“Do you two… have something you want to tell us?” Katsura asked tentatively—like he was about to spook a herd of wild deer. 

The Joui Four crew plus Hijikata sat in a corner booth at WacDonalds, unwinding after school. Gintoki and Hijikata sat in the booth opposite Katsura and Sakamoto, while Takasugi had pulled up a seat at the end of the table. Takasugi stared into dead space while Sakamoto played with his _Gintaman_ Happy Meal toy. 

Gintoki yawned and stretched his arm, unconsciously placing it around Hijikata. Katsura’s eyes zeroed in on this point of contact. These two were abnormally close, even by bromance standards. Hijikata didn’t even look miffed, acting like it was completely normal as everyone else stared intently at the black-and-white-haired pair. 

“What do you mean?” Gintoki replied, self-aware as a rock. 

“Back at the movie theatre, when you…” Katsura waved his hand, not knowing how to explain whatever the fuck happened. 

“Oh, you mean when I held Hijikata’s hand and announced that we were as gay as the day is long?”

Sakamoto choked on his Oreo Freeze. 

“Yes… _that.”_ Katsura genuinely wondered what Gintoki used his brain cells for other than for video games and manga. 

“Oh, we just wanted the couple’s discount,” Gintoki stated simply, oblivious to the ramifications of their declaration to the public eye. 

Katsura, the boy who never knew when to shut up, was actually rendered speechless. How did it come to this? When Hijikata first came in as a transfer student, the girl population almost threw a fit at this “mysterious, cool-type boy.” Yet, Hijikata was rather reserved and had rejected any girl who came up to him. Most of the boys didn’t really get along with him either, most of them jealous that he was so popular with the girls. But for some reason, Gintoki latched onto this new kid.

Hijikata was not very keen on this white-haired kid who stuck onto him like a leech. But Gintoki was relentless in his pursuit of adding Hijikata into their group. He’d constantly drag the boy to go eat ramen with them after school. Though disgruntled, Hijikata was too polite to reject the invitations. When the black-haired boy grew comfortable around them to speak, they had learned that Hijikata spoke with a slight country accent. He’d come from the countryside and was still trying to learn the Tokyo accent. He’d been afraid that he would be made fun of, so he’d avoided speaking too much. 

When the group had heard this, they laughed, telling Hijikata that he shouldn’t be so preoccupied with himself. Hijikata had blushed hotly at this and slipped into his country bumpkin accent, trying his best to defend himself. Gintoki just wrapped his arms around him and gave him a noogie. 

In the beginning, Hijikata was like a prissy cat, always rejecting Gintoki’s overly friendly contact. But slowly over time, he came to accept it without so much of a grumble. Even right now, the two were seated flush against each other’s sides.

Gintoki, inhaler of all food, actually offered Hijikata a bite of his corn dog, but not before squirting an ample amount of mayo onto it. Hijikata turned his head and took a bite of it right out of Gintoki’s hand, humming quite happily as Gintoki had gotten the mayo-to-food ratio to his taste. A bit of mayo got caught at the corner of Hijikata’s mouth and his so-called ‘bro’ wiped it off with his thumb, licking it afterwards. 

A dollop of mayo dropped onto Gintoki’s pants. Hijikata grabbed some napkins but not before rightfully calling his friend an idiot. He went ahead and started wiping at Gintoki’s crotch and even went so far as bending down and reaching in between his legs to clean the mess on the floor. To outside onlookers and the non-oblivious, it sort of looked like they were doing something particularly _unsavory_ in public. 

Takasugi shot up from his seat, gagging. “I’ve had enough of this.” He left the booth to go breathe in the second-hand smoke of the smokers outside. 

“What’s up his butt?” Gintoki inquired as he watched his emo friend leave. 

Katsura shook his head. How could the white-haired idiot be so oblivious to what was going on? “Are you _sure_ there’s nothing going on between you two? We won’t judge.” 

Both the boys furrowed their eyebrows in confusion, not understanding the undertone of the question. 

Gintoki squeezed Hijikata’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, Zura. We’re just bros being bros.”

Katsura felt anger bubble up in his chest. His name was NOT ‘Zura’ and these two were definitely not just _bros being bros!!_

————

The next day at school, Gintoki thought about Zura’s words. What was his friend implying about his relationship with Hijikata? There was no deeper explanation for the fact that he was drawn to the boy the moment he laid eyes on him. The white-haired teen stood idly in the hallway, staring out the window during their lunch break as he sipped on his strawberry milk. He was trying to wrap his mind around the implication of Zura’s words when his eyes fell to the schoolyard. 

The familiar figure of Hijikata stood from across an unknown figure of a girl with long black hair. Gintoki squinted at the girl’s face, trying to figure out which class she was in. She was looking intently at the stone-faced Hijikata. The schoolgirl pulled out a soft pink letter, and even from the third floor, Gintoki saw the myriad of hearts pasted on the envelope. He was bearing witness to one of the quintessential scenes of youth: a confession. 

Gintoki wasn’t really surprised to witness such a scene, especially with the recipient being his friend. Hijikata had that magnetic effect on almost every girl who saw him. With his striking blue eyes and soft black hair, who wouldn’t immediately flock to him? He should be happy for him. What did a high school boy want more than a soft and cute girlfriend to dote on and whatever the hell idiot couples did these days? 

The white-haired teen felt his pulse pick up, the telltale signs of his anger welling inside his chest. He unclenched the fist, not even realizing how tense he was. That was weird. He’d gotten a better handle over his anger after he graduated from middle school. He was known as the leader of a gang of misfits back then, fighting anyone who crossed his path. In his defense, he never started the fights. Some people would take one look at his messy perm head and dead-fish-eyed stare and assume he wanted a fight. He finally stopped when he’d ended up at the hospital with Shouyo looking defeated at his bedside. 

He had bottled up so many feelings of anger and resentment from being abandoned by his parents that he never acknowledged the unconditional love and patience Shouyo had given him as his foster dad. 

After that, through lots of therapy, he’d worked through the anger and pain building inside his chest. Or so he thought. Jealousy boiled beneath his skin as he watched Hijikata take the letter and say something. Anxiously chewing on his straw, he tried to read their lips. But he was too far to hear what they were saying. He saw his friend nod, and it felt like an anchor was chained to his heart, dragging it to the ocean floor. So Hijikata had accepted her confession. 

—————

Sakamoto shifted his eyes between Zura and Takasugi, subtly gesturing at the brooding Gintoki with a nod. The four were at Takasugi’s house to play Super Smash Brothers, since Takasugi was the only one who could afford the extra controllers. But instead of joining in, Gintoki was staring out the window, barely participating in the conversation. 

Being childhood friends, the four had formed an almost telepathic way to communicate. 

_‘He’s obviously angsty about something.’_ Sakamoto said with his furrowed eyebrows. 

_‘I don’t know. Ask him what’s wrong.’_ Takasugi said with a slight gesture of his head. 

_‘YOU ask him what’s wrong.’_ Sakamoto was not the starter of conversations. Not good ones at least. 

Takasugi glared at Sakamoto in his refusal. Sakamoto finally shrugged and resigned. “Hey...Gintoki...umm… are you like, constipated, or something?” 

Takasugi and Katsura facepalmed, absolutely blown away by the walking embodiment of idiocy that was their friend. 

“Cuz I have diarrheal medicine downstairs if you want it.” Sakamoto shifted awkwardly in his seat. God, when was Hijikata going to arrive from kendo practice? He was way better at dealing with Gintoki’s bitchy moods than the lot of them were. 

Speaking of the devil, everyone turned to the door as Hijikata walked in. “Hey, your mom let me in, Takasugi.” The black-haired boy had a bag of snacks he bought from the convenience store and passed it around. He pulled out a carton of strawberry milk. Gintoki’s face immediately brightened up. But as he remembered the scene from this afternoon, his mood soured faster than strawberry milk left in the sun. Hijikata did not notice this as he was busy rummaging through his pockets. 

“So word on the street is that you got yourself a new girlfriend,” Gintoki stated flatly. The other three members of the Joui Four had a simultaneous epiphany. So _that_ was why Gintoki was acting like a petulant child.

“What are you talking about?” Hijikata said, confused. “Oh, did you see what happened in the courtyard this afternoon?” The boy’s mood suddenly shifted. His eyes grew dark and his body stiffened. He reached in his jacket pocket, pulling out something and throwing it haphazardly to Gintoki. 

“Oi, oi!” Gintoki yelled as he struggled to catch it out of the air. “This is not one of those card game animes where the main character can catch razor-like cards out of thin air!” He earned a paper cut for trying to perform such a feat. 

Hijikata immediately felt apologetic when he saw the blood oozing out of Gintoki’s finger. He swooped in and put the wounded finger in between his lips, sucking the blood out. “I’m sorry about that. I shouldn’t have thrown it to you like that. I’m just frustrated.” He pulled out a bandaid from his pocket, typical of someone prepared and organized enough to be the Vice President of the Kendo Club. 

Gintoki would have asked him to elaborate but his red eyes finally fell upon the envelope with hearts floating around his name. _‘To Sakata Gintoki,’_ the letter read. 

“The girl from earlier this afternoon asked me to deliver this to you.” 

A flood of relief flooded through Gintoki and the black cloud looming over his heart dissolved. He wasn’t going to lose Hijikata after all! A part of him wanted to tackle his friend in his burst of joy, but he managed to control himself. 

“She said she wants to go out with you.” Hijikata struggled to keep his tone neutral.

“Oh.” This was his first confession he’d ever received. He was supposed to feel estatic, right?

“What do you think I should do?” Gintoki asked Hijikata, as he typically sought out the black-haired teen when he had a problem.

Katsura, Sakamoto, and Takasugi watched the scene in dead silence, barely even breathing. _‘Should we leave?’_ Sakamoto mouthed to the other two. The trio really did feel like they were intruding in something private between their two friends, but Hijikata was blocking the only route of escape. _Damn it, Takasugi! Your house had three bathrooms but only one exit for uncomfortable situations?!_

Hijikata clenched his jaw, clearly looking like he was holding something back. But instead of saying what was truly in his heart, he replied, “Well, I guess it would be rude _not_ to go out with her.”

For some reason, Gintoki was surprised at Hijikata’s answer. He expected his friend would say something else. “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll go out with her,” the white-haired boy said with zero of the excitement of a boy who just got his first girlfriend. 

The other boys gave each other _the look._ They could cut the tension in the room with a sword.

“Well, whatever,” Gintoki said, carelessly throwing the letter to the side. His arm reached out to pull Hijikata down onto his lap. The mayo addict fussed, but he eventually settled down in front of his friend. Gintoki wordlessly wrapped his arms around Hijikata with comfortable ease. He rested his head on the black-haired boy’s shoulders so he could see the TV. Takasugi’s room was rather small so there was barely enough space for four growing teenage boys. Plus, he only had four controllers, so Gintoki and Hijikata would switch it in between the two of them. 

Gintoki always felt a giddy sense of warmth welling inside his chest when he had Hijikata in his arms. And although the tsundere always complained about it in the beginning, Hijikata eventually grew used to his friend’s warmth. The white-haired boy was like a living furnace. Gintoki was more than happy to share his heat with Hijikata, relishing the way Hijikata would melt into his chest. 

The awkward tension that had settled in the room dispersed and the boys forgot their worries as they fell into another game of Smash. 

“Why do you always choose Kirby?” Hijikata critiqued as Gintoki struggled to kick his friends’ asses with the bubble-gum pink ball. Hijikata always leaned towards choosing manly swordsmen like Ike or Link.

“Because he’s shaped like a friend and reminds me of strawberry milk,” Gintoki answered as he hammered Takasugi’s Wolf into oblivion. 

The bells of Hijikata’s chuckles imprinted onto Gintoki’s heart without him even knowing. 

——————

The day of Gintoki’s first date finally came. Hijikata could not believe that Gintoki of all people had received a confession! He thought most girls would be turned off by the way he picked his nose or the slovenly way he dressed. So what if he was one of the more muscular guys in their class and had this undeniable dangerous air underneath his lazy facade? Not that Hijikata had noticed it or anything!

Hijikata tried to stand surreptitiously behind a pole, watching Gintoki and his new _girlfriend_ on their first date, but failed tremendously. Passersby gave strange looks to the boy in the oversized trench coat and ostentatious black sunglasses. The black-haired boy ground his teeth as he saw the two enter the movie theater together. He couldn’t see the movie they had chosen, but knowing Gintoki, he probably pestered the girl into watching the fifth installment of Pedoro. His heart tightened. Weren’t _they_ supposed to watch this movie together? He remembered that Gintoki had won some movie tickets in the raffle the other day. And it wasn’t like they promised each other to watch it together, but Hijikata was the only one in the group who unironically shared Gintoki’s love for the Pedoro series. 

Just as he was about to go to the ticket booth, he bumped into a group of three guys more ridiculously dressed than him. “Hijikata?!” “What are you guys doing here?!” The four friends screamed at the same time. The Joui Four sans Gintoki were all wearing colors that threatened to blind any onlookers. Sakamoto was wearing a wig that was poofier than his own hair. Takasugi had an eye bandage on, which made him even more of an edgelord than usual. And Zura, for some unfathomable reason, was dressed like a girl! 

“Zura, are you wearing lipstick?” Hijikata asked, incredulous.

“I am not Zura. I am Zurako!”

“Weren’t you supposed to be at kendo practice?” Takasugi asked point blank. 

Hijikata shifted his eyes. “It got...canceled.” The boy could not tell a lie if his life depended on it. 

Zura rolled his eyes, not convinced in the slightest. “Come on, you wanna find out how the date’s going, right? You’re obviously here to spy on Gintoki just like us.” The boys bought four tickets for _My Neighbor Pedoro Goes to the Moon._ When they entered the theater, Gintoki’s ridiculously bright white hair could already be seen in the front row of the theater. 

The mayo addict sank into his seat in excitement when the jovial piano riff came on. He was watching his favorite franchise after all. He tried to watch Gintoki and his date from the corner of his eyes, but the allure of Pedoro was too strong. There were tears streaming down Hijikata’s face before he even knew it, sniffling when Pedoro returned to Earth. Although his other friends did not share the sentiment, he could see Gintoki sniffling afar. He was probably having a hard time keeping his tears bottled up, trying to keep a tough front in front of his date. 

The title screen rolled and everyone shuffled out of the theater. The four boys stay behind to give enough distance between Gintoki and his date so they wouldn’t be discovered. They moved forward with their private investigation. 

Hijikata frowned in disgust as they stood in front of a desserts cafe with the gaudiest display of sweet paraphernalia. A display of a giant sundae drowned in chocolate syrup and topped with marshmallows and wafers sat in the window. Literal clouds made of cotton candy floated above it. Of course Gintoki had chosen this place. Hijikata remembered Gintoki pointing this out on their way home. Everyone refused to go in with him because it would be weird going into a sweet shop as boys. 

“Are we seriously going to go in here?” Takasugi asked like a vampire at the church’s doorstep.

“It’s fine! We already came all the way here. It won’t be weird if there’s a girl in our group and we have me for that!” Zura, or in this case, Zurako, declared as he dragged them all into the cafe. 

“Oh, I think it’ll be weird for other reasons,” Takasugi whispered under his breath. It was a miracle that Gintoki hadn’t noticed them as they passed by him. Their costumes were so ostentatious that all the customers turned to look at them, but fortunately the white-haired boy had his nose too deep in the menu to notice that his friends were tailing him.

The group were seated at a corner booth by a nervous waitress. She managed to take all of their orders, looking at them in their eyes despite the ridiculous outfits they were wearing. Hijikata ordered the most bitter thing on the menu: a cappuccino cup of coffee without the extra sugar. All the boys plus the waitress barely held back their nausea as they watched Hijikata squeeze a mountain of mayo on top of his drink. 

Gintoki ordered a rather large sundae —one that was definitely meant to be shared with another —but asked for only one spoon.

“So why are you going out on a date with me?” Gintoki asked. He was nothing if not blunt. The four boys facepalmed. Did this guy have _any_ tact? 

The girl started talking, albeit shyly. She mentioned that she had admired Gintoki’s enthusiasm when he was cheering on Hijikata during his kendo matches. She thought it was cool of him to support his friend like that. And she really liked the way his face lit up everytime he ate sweets. Gintoki shyly chuckled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. It was weird hearing about himself from another person’s point of view, but he was flattered nonetheless. 

Hijikata could not stomach another second of this. He didn’t know why, but he hated seeing Gintoki so happy with the girl. He couldn’t bear another second at that booth. He slammed his payment for the unfinished coffee on the table and left the scene. The other boys silently watched him go, not really knowing what to do. Hijikata was the type who needed alone time to cool off. He would eventually come back around to them. But as they watched Gintoki with the girl, they wondered if the tear growing between them might one day become irreparable. 

They sat there, determined to at least finish their order since it would be rude to all leave without eating their food. They listened to Gintoki starting to speak again. 

“I was surprised that you hadn’t chosen Hijikata. He’s the star of the kendo team after all. I mean, he consumes more than his body weight in mayo every week, but he manages to quickly counter all his opponents' moves. I doubt he would ever get the upper hand on me though. He always turns so red everytime I get too close to him. Maybe he’s allergic to perm-heads?” 

“Speaking of which, I had wanted to invite him to watch the Pedoro movie with me since he loves it so much, but he said he was busy when I mentioned it would be after our date… weird… Hijikata is such a tsundere sometimes...”

Thus began the longest spiel about Hijikata that everyone in the near vicinity had ever had to listen to. Sakamoto did his best to stifle his laughs while Takasugi plugged in a pair of headphones to block out the idiot’s rambling. He had heard enough of it before. Zura buried his face into his palms. How was he friends with such an idiot? Why was he spending the entire date talking about someone else?

The white-haired boy ended the date by finishing off his large sundae. Lo and behold, he had forgotten his wallet. The fact that he might have had it in the first place was debatable. His date ended up paying for both their desserts. Gintoki made some lame promise of paying the girl back. The boys rolled their eyes, knowing that the sugar addict was not going to do that. The sugar addict had a long, open tab with each of them. The boys were all doubtful whether there would be a second date. 

————— —-

A week passed, and everything seemed to go back to normal, or so Gintoki thought. Maybe it was just him, but Hijikata seemed to be distant. It had taken a long time for the tsundere to warm up to Gintoki and his crew, but he thought they had gotten over that bump. But nowadays, Hijikata made excuses about needing to go to kendo practice, even during lunch! There was such a thing as too much training. Hijikata stayed later at club practice too and hadn’t been able to come hang out with the Joui Four after school. 

Friday finally came and it got to the point that Kondo, the kendo club president, actually banned Hijikata from coming to practice for the weekend. 

“You’re working yourself too hard,” Kondo said, worried about his protégé. The boy was talented but he would go nowhere if he worked till his calluses bled. Hijikata insisted that he needed to come in. The president of the Kendo Club caught sight of Gintoki down the hallway. “Hey, if it isn't Hijikata’s best friend!”

At the sight of Hijikata, Gintoki immediately ran up to the boy and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. 

“Gintoki, why don’t you keep Hijikata away from the kendo club this weekend?”

“Sure can do, Gorilla-senpai!”

“Don’t call our Kondo-senpai that!” Hijikata admonished. He was still undeniably pissed off at how Gintoki had gotten a girlfriend and he needed the space to air out his complicated emotions. He didn’t completely understand why he was so mad when he saw how happy they were together on their date. A flurry of emotions had bit into him that day: jealousy, sadness, hurt, and anger. But he kept pushing those feelings away, filling his body instead with the physical pain from kendo practice. He’d much prefer getting hit in the ribs over the stab of jealousy he felt seeing Gintoki smile at his girlfriend. Hijikata tried to push Gintoki away as these uncomfortable feelings resurfaced. 

Gintoki lacked any sense to distinguish between his friend's typical tsundere-ness from his actually being pissed off. But as always, Hijikata allowed himself to be caught up in Gintoki’s pace. He was thrown off by the blinding smile the sugar addict shot at him and forgot all the ugly emotions festering inside him. Outwardly, Hijikata begrudgingly agreed to his friend’s invitation, even though he was secretly very happy. 

Gintoki was ecstatic! He finally had the opportunity for some bro time with Hijikata.

——

“It’s movie night!!” Sakamoto cheerfully announced to the room. It was his favorite activity since it didn’t involve his ass being kicked in Smash Brothers.

“So what movie did you choose?”

Gintoki squinted at the website. “World War Z. It’s supposed to have Brad Pitt, so it’s gotta be some cool action movie, right?” The other boys had never heard of the movie before so they had no objections to his choice.

Hijikata hesitated but Gintoki pulled his black-haired friend down into his usual position on his lap. It was quite cold since they were in Sakamoto’s house, which was practically an igloo. Sakamoto handed out blankets for each of them. The hairs on Hijikata’s arms stood up, and he shivered due to the cold. But Gintoki did his buddy a solid and rubbed Hijikata’s arms and hugged him closer. Hijikata released a contented sigh. 

The movie seemed to be going interesting enough. There was some plague, and Brad Pitt needed to find the medicine. Honestly, Hijikata was dozing off for most of it. His extra practices at kendo club were really wearing him down. Slowly but surely, as the movie credits rolled into the opening scene, Hijikata melted deeper into Gin’s warmth. It was so comfortable, being wrapped in Gin’s heat and his smell. Hijikata could not get enough of it. 

Halfway through the movie, the music started getting tense, and suddenly there was no music at all. That was when you knew shit was going down. Fear rushed through Hijikata’s body as he watched the man walk down the dimly lit corridor. Wait, what was going on? Hijikata signed up for an action movie, not a thriller! Gintoki would never choose a horror movie unless he just misinterpreted the title. But that meant—

“AAAHHHH!!” All the boys screamed when the zombie popped out of nowhere. Hijikata immediately turned his face and buried his nose into Gintoki’s neck. The sugar addict reciprocated by hugging Hijikata tighter and digging his face into Hijikata’s hair so as to not look at the movie. 

The black-haired boy could hear Gintoki’s heart beating against his chest and for some reason his own heartbeat quickened in tandem. Gintoki could probably feel Hijikata’s heartbeat, with his head so close to his chest. The mayo addict hoped that Gintoki attributed his heartbeat to the movie and not to him. 

When the music finally returned to that of an action movie, Hijikata watched with one eye through the blanket. Gintoki was doing the same. By the end Takasugi was the only one who was able to get up, unaffected by the action-turned-horror movie, and turned the laptop off. 

“Who would have figured that the Z stood for zombies?” Gintoki genuinely asked. 

“What did you think it stood for?” Takasugi said, deadpan. 

“I don’t know. I just thought they ran out of letters from the alphabet and this was the last one.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

Gintoki would have lunged at Takasugi, but Hijikata was still in his arms. It looked like he was about to fall asleep if they didn’t get home soon. He shot a look at Takasugi, signifying that they would put a pin on this for later.

The boys shuffled out of Takasugi’s room and bid each other a good night. Hijikata went with Gintoki since their homes were the same way. It was approaching midnight, and the streets of their neighborhood were notorious for being dimly lit. Both the boys were still freaked out by the movie, their hearts beating faster than the flapping of a hummingbird’s wings. 

Gintoki unconsciously reached out for Hijikata’s hand. “Oh, um, I wanted to make sure you don’t get lost,” the white-haired boy said, as if they hadn’t walked these streets a hundred times before. In his defense, the winding roads looked so different at night time. 

The tsundere didn't pull away; he accepted Gintoki's hand with a squeeze. Gintoki awkwardly chuckled but kept walking with his friend in tow. It felt so nice to hold Hijikata’s warm hand in his. 

There wasn’t much conversation to fill the air since they were still on high alert for any zombie-like terror popping out of the corner. 

Eventually, Gintoki arrived at his house and he reluctantly let go of Hijikata’s hand. His hand felt empty now, but Hijikata had his own home to go back to. Out of nowhere, the black-haired boy grabbed it once more, reuniting their warm hands. Hijikata could not look past Gintoki, growing nervous about what laid beyond the darkness. He knew what would greet him when he got home: an empty apartment. The teenage boy moved out of his home in the countryside, finding life there too stagnant and toxic, even with his older brother trying to protect him. At least his brother convinced the family to pay for his living expenses till the end of high school. 

Hijikata didn’t want to go back to an empty home. He wanted to spend the night with Gintoki. This wasn’t a new development. He’d spent the night on multiple occasions, but he’d been afraid to invite himself over ever since Gintoki got his girlfriend. The black-haired boy had been avoiding his best friend all week because he couldn’t stand the thought of talking about Gintoki’s new relationship. It simply tore his heart apart. 

But as he imagined the cold and stale apartment awaiting him at the end of his journey home, Hijikata didn’t want to separate from Gintoki. 

“Gintoki, can I stay the night with you?” Hijikata’s grip on his friend’s hand tightened. Gintoki was heartstruck. How could he resist Hijikata when he was as cute as a little duckling. 

Gintoki did not have the same hesitation Hijikata did. He openly welcomed the humble boy into his home. 

“Dad, we’re home!!” Gintoki yelled into the house, not having an inside voice. A tall man with soft brown hair and an even softer smile stepped out of the kitchen to greet the two boys. 

“Welcome home, Gin. Hijikata-kun, it’s great to have you back.”

Hijikata bowed. “Sorry to intrude, Shouyou-sensei.” 

“It’s no problem at all. You boys sure came home late. Did you still want dinner? I left some rice balls out for you. You, too, Hijikata-kun,” Shouyo said, not surprised that Gintoki ended up dragging his friend home. He always made extra just in case. 

Shouyo had already eaten so he chose simply to sit down and talk with the two famished boys while they inhaled his food. “How was movie night at Sakamoto-kun’s house?”

Gintoki and Hijikata shuddered, remembering the zombies they tried to erase from their mind. “Ugh, it was terrible, dad. I chose the wrong movie.” He then summarized the movie with animated hand gestures and a performance that would have Brad Pitt running for his money. 

Shouyo laughed, amused by his son’s flair for drama. Gintoki had changed so much before his very eyes. He remembered when he used to wait up with worry most nights, since his boy would come home with wounds worse than the night before. When it got bad enough for Gintoki to end up in the hospital, Shouyo could not bear to keep his tears at bay any longer. Something changed that night within Gintoki as he witnessed his foster dad break down in front of him. He swore to never make Shouyo cry like that again. It was also the first time the boy had ever called him ‘dad.’ Ever since then, Gintoki was much more open to counseling and had learned about how to control his anger. The white-haired teen worked hard to mellow out into the boy he saw today. 

Shouyo watched Gin interrupt his retelling of the story to pick off a rice grain from Hijikata’s face and eat it. He inwardly smiled, knowing that something special was developing between those two. But he chose not to comment until Gintoki realized it himself and came to him. These things always had a way of working themselves out.

The boys thanked Shouyo for the food and went upstairs to get ready for bed. Shouyo spoke to his son as he stood at Gintoki’s bedroom door. “Gintoki, I’m leaving early tomorrow morning to head to a conference. I should be back by Sunday afternoon. I made extra food and left it in the freezer. You can fend for yourself for a night, right?”

Gintoki assured him that he’d be fine. But Shouyo still looked at Hijikata and said, “I’ll leave him in your care, Hijikata-kun. Make sure he doesn’t eat dessert for three meals a day.” 

Hijikata chuckled as Gintoki blushed. The white-haired teen closed the door a bit quickly after wishing his dad a good night. 

“Hey, you wanna take a shower first?” Gintoki offered. 

“Yea, sure,” Hijikata said. “Do you have anything I can wear for the night?” 

Gintoki threw Hijikata an old T-shirt and some shorts. When Hijikata came back from the shower, he was very refreshed. Gintoki’s heart skipped a beat as he saw Hijikata in his clothes. The shirt was stretched from too many washes and the design too faded to tell what it once was. He knew he would have been caught staring if he didn’t go ahead and go into the shower himself. 

Hijikata busied himself with the week’s schoolwork as Gintoki took his shower. When Gintoki came out, he noticed that Hijikata’s hair was still wet. “Hey, if you don’t dry your head before bed, you’re gonna catch a cold. I mean, I guess you’re not worried since idiots don’t catch colds.”

Hijikata rolled his eyes. He wanted to towel whip Gintoki for his comment but didn’t want to disturb Shouyou-sensei. Instead he allowed Gintoki to dry his hair with the blow dryer. It was really nice having Gintoki’s fingers card through his hair, his nails lightly scratching against his scalp.

Gintoki couldn't help but stop and smell Hijikata’s hair. “My shampoo smells good on you.”

The tops of Hijikata’s ears went red, but it wasn’t due to the heat of the blow dryer. To distract Gintoki, Hijikata took the hair dryer and forced his friend to sit down. 

Gintoki’s hair was fluffy like a cloud, especially having just been washed. The sweet, familiar scent of his strawberry shampoo comforted Hijikata. Even after it was dry enough, the mayo addict kept carding his fingers through the boy's longer hair. This turned into a pleasant head massage for Gintoki. 

The sugar addict rolled his head back to relish the massage. He saw Hijikata gazing down at him with the softness of light kissing the land at sunrise. Gintoki held Hijikata’s gaze, swimming in his blue orbs. Hijikata slowly lowered his head, a force stronger than gravity drawing him closer to Gintoki. 

The ding of a phone notification split them apart. Hijikata threw his head back, realizing what he was about to do. The sugar addict grabbed his phone to silence the blasted thing.

“Oh, it’s just my girlfriend.” Hijikata’s heart dropped as Gintoki read the message. “She wants to hang out this weekend.” 

Hijikata tried his hardest to not allow his jealousy to seep into his words. “What are you gonna say?”

Gintoki shrugged. “Not sure. But I really wanted to hang out with you this weekend. I’ve barely seen you this week cuz of all your kendo practice.”

A warm feeling burgeoned in Hijikata’s chest. He knew he shouldn’t read too much into Gintoki’s blunt remarks, but it was almost like the other boy _missed_ him. 

Gintoki was distracted by the soft blush blossoming on his friend’s soft cheeks. He decided not to respond to his girlfriend’s text and threw his phone onto a pile of dirty laundry. He made sure he muted it beforehand; he really wanted to sleep in tomorrow morning with Hijikata. 

“Come on, let’s go to sleep.” Gintoki climbed into bed first, followed by a cautious Hijikata. The white-haired boy noticed his hesitancy and thought it to be weird, given that they’d slept in the same bed at least a dozen times before. What was holding Hijikata back?

Hijikata laid next to Gintoki on his small bed, not quite touching the boy, and turned away from him. Now bathed in darkness, Gintoki found the freedom to gaze at Hijikata’s figure. Gintoki wasn’t the type to read into things, but he felt like his friend seemed so distant this past week. Even now, the inches of space between them felt more like a chasm, and he wished nothing more than to bridge the distance between them. 

Gintoki noticed Hijikata shiver a little. “Are you cold?” he whispered into the darkness. 

“No, it’s just…” Hijikata found it difficult to search for words in his state of tiredness. How could he possibly talk about his confusing feelings about Gintoki and his girlfriend when he didn’t understand them himself? 

“Are you still scared of the zombies?” Gintoki threw out to fill the dead air. His arms unconsciously snaked out to wrap around Hijikata. “It’s okay. No matter what, we still have each other,” he assured, trying to ward off any worries of what might happen in an apocalypse. He’s pretty sure they’d kick a lot of zombie ass. 

Hijikata stilled but eventually melted into Gintoki’s embrace. He turned his body so that he could dig his nose into the white-haired boy’s neck. He’d missed his friend too. Hidden from the outside world, in the privacy of his friend’s room, Hijikata finally let himself indulge in everything that was Gintoki. He inhaled the sweet, masculine scent of his friend and relaxed into a soft slumber, feeling protected in the cocoon of Gintoki’s reassuring warmth. Gintoki’s hand snaked into Hijikata’s hair, carding it, allowing his fingers to softly scratch against his scalp. 

For the heck of it, he threw his leg over Hijikata’s hip, wanting to ensure that his friend was not cold. 

With the warmth shared between them and the reassurance of their existence in each other’s arms, it did not take long for them to fall deep into slumber. 

————

The sounds of the late morning roused Gintoki awake, even though he’d wished to remain in dream land. He squinted at the clock, seeing the short hand settle on 11AM.

Gintoki’s dick stirred, reminding him of the particular morning routine most boys partook in, whether they admitted it or not. Without thinking much about it, he reached under the blanket and slipped his hand underneath the waistband of his boxers. His hand wrapped around his morning wood and started pumping. His sleep-muddled mind wasn’t trying to focus on anything in particular. He was just trying to get himself off. Perhaps a pair of familiar blue eyes and soft black hair slipped into the random images concocted by his horny teenage brain. Gintoki didn’t think too much of it, though, since it’d happened many times before. 

It didn’t take long before he came in his fist. The libido of teenage boys was that fast and quick. He opened his eyes and turned to Hijikata to see if he was awake. He appeared to still be sleeping, but his ears were redder than the ripest of strawberries. 

It was not the first time that Gintoki had masturbated next to Hijikata. He saw it as a normal activity, after all. All boys masturbated or had at least tried to. No shame in that. His eyes traveled down Hijikata’s form under the blanket and saw a rather obvious tent. 

He laid his palm over Hijikata’s morning wood. “Morning,” Gintoki said, watching Hijikata jerk under the covers, “Want some help with this?” Gintoki palmed the black haired boy’s erection, earning a sweet moan from his friend. 

With familiar ease, he lifted the blanket off of Hijikata and climbed atop him. Hijikata was honestly cute every hour of the day, but Gintoki particularly preferred Hijikata’s morning look. His bed head was so messy and endearing. His shirt and shorts had ridden up during the night and now revealed a rather tantalizing strip of skin. 

Gintoki hooked his fingers in Hijikata’s shorts but the boy wrapped his hand around his wrists, stopping him. He was looking away from his friend, not able to meet his eyes. 

“Shouldn’t... you start doing this kinda stuff with your girlfriend?”

Gintoki was perplexed by the question. “What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with friends getting each other off. 

We’re just two bros helping each other out, right?”

Hijikata was caught off guard by the answer, but Gintoki had seemed so sure with his logic that the boy was carried along with his pace. He laid back down and let Gintoki take the lead. 

Gintoki pulled Hijikata’s mayo-printed boxers down and threw them off the bed. Spreading Hijikata’s legs, he settled between them. He moved close enough to grab both their cocks in his hands and started stroking. 

It was so wonderful riding this wave of pleasure with Hijikata. It was a bit difficult trying to keep both of their dicks in his fist, but Hijikata wrapped his hand around Gintoki’s to help him out. The little moans that Hijikata let out goaded the white-haired boy further. Their sweat and precum decreased the friction between them, making everything slippery and sensual. Gintoki grinded his hips down, adding to the heat pooling in his loins. Hijikata hid his face in embarrassment as he always did during their masturbation sessions. Gintoki knew Hijikata was biting his lips to keep his full moans from coming out, and the sugar addict wished so desperately to witness Hijikata unraveling beneath his touch. 

Hijikata could no longer bear the heat churning inside his lower half and ejaculated. Ribbons of thick come painted their stomachs. Gintoki’s dick, though having come earlier, was once again standing at full attention. 

A fantastic idea popped into his head. “Hey, can I try something?”

Hijikata, still on a high from his orgasm, could only hum his approval. Gintoki separated himself so that he could grab the mayo addict’s legs and squeeze them tightly together. 

Gintoki had wanted to try this since he first caught sight of Hijikata’s soft thighs in the locker room. With his free hand, he positioned his dick right above Hijikata’s balls. He tried to push in between Hijikata’s thighs but missed, rubbing against his hole by mistake. The black-haired boy flinched, misunderstanding what his friend was attempting to do. 

“Wait—sorry. I wasn’t going to put it in. I just wanted to do it between your thighs. I’d never do something like that without your permission first.” Hijikata relaxed once more after hearing his friend’s explanation. He trusted Gintoki wholeheartedly and knew he would stick to his word. 

Gintoki tried once more and pushed his dick in between Hijikata soft, creamy thighs, making sure to rub against Hijikata’s dick. The sugar addict started slowly at first, allowing both the boys to take in the sensation. It was way better than what he had expected. Although Hijikata had trained often, the inside of his thighs were soft like a girl’s. He squeezed Hijikata’s legs tighter and started humping the boy like a rabbit in heat. 

Hijikata lost any and all ability to hold back his moans and relished the feeling of being semi-fucked by his best friend. Gintoki shut his eyes tight, trying to focus on the pleasurable heat coursing through his veins and the sounds of his best friend’s desperate gasps. The noises Hijikata made were way better than any first-rate porn actress’s. 

Gintoki skyrocketed to orgasm once more, lost in the suppleness of Hijikata’s thighs. He came all over his best friend, mixing both their seed together. Gintoki lowered himself, his lips aching to unite with Hijikata’s pliant ones. But he stopped himself because even he knew that kissing would take this a step too far. Kisses were supposed to only be shared with a guy’s girlfriend and no one else, right? Still yearning to connect with Hijikata in some way, he instead chose to lick a drop of come that had landed on his chin. 

Hijikata let out a small mewl, much like a kitten and the white-haired boy wanted to fall into his arms. Hijikata had to have been one of the cutest beings in the entire universe. 

Gintoki did not want them to stay sticky, so he grabbed a wet tissue from his drawer and wiped both their bodies down. The teenage boy laid back down next to Hijikata and spooned him, more content than a cat napping in the sun. He would have stayed like that for the rest of the day if not for the hungry growl that came from his stomach. Hijikata nudged at Gintoki with a small smile. “Come on, let’s get some breakfast.”

—-

After some delicious breakfast, courtesy of Shouyou, Gintoki and Hijikata decided to head out to the park to spend the day. The sun was shining upon the two as they walked along the beaten path to their favorite area. 

Gintoki spent some of his allowance and bought the two of them ice cream. Instead of buying his usual red bean ice cream, he decided to try pistachio. For Hijikata, he bought plain vanilla since the color reminded the boy of mayo. 

They sat on a bench in front of the fountain, enjoying their ice cream as they sat and people-watched. It was their favorite activity to do on days when time was only meant to be passed by. 

“Hey, my pistachio ice cream is really good,” Gintoki held out his ice cream to his friend, “You wanna get a taste of _deez nuts?”_

Hijikata genuinely considered pushing the boy into the fountain. “Did you buy that ice cream just so you can make that lame joke?”

Gintoki smirked and gave a small shrug of his shoulders, showing that he was caught red-handed. Hijikata rolled his eyes but stuck his tongue out to try the flavor. 

Suddenly, a figure entered their vision. 

“S-Sakata-kun, it’s so great seeing you here,” a shy, familiar voice interrupted the scene. 

Hijikata immediately distanced himself from his best friend, a heavy sense of awkwardness blanketing him as Gintoki’s girlfriend stood in front of them. 

“Yo,” Gintoki casually greeted the girl, trying not to be annoyed by the fact that she had interrupted his one-on-one time with Hijikata.

“Did you… um... ever get my message about the new dessert cafe opening today?” She anxiously twirled her hair around one finger. “I thought you would be interested in it.”

“Oh, sorry, I hadn’t seen it.” Gintoki briefly considered the invitation, but remembered that he had really wanted to spend the day with Hijikata. “Sounds cool, but I’m actually—”

“I just remembered I have kendo practice today. I should probably get going.” Hijikata abruptly excused himself from the scene and walked away without so much of a goodbye. 

Gintoki tried to call Hijikata back, but the boy had practically run off. That was weird. Hijikata never had practice on Saturdays. Was he just trying to give Gintoki some alone time with his girlfriend?

The girl looked imploringly at Gintoki. “Oh, um, so, are you free to go with me, Sakata-kun?”

Gintoki scratched his head, still confused by Hijikata’s sudden disappearance and disappointed now that he couldn't spend the day together with his friend. “Yea, I guess I’m free now.” 

Hijikata turned around to see Gintoki walking away with the demure figure of his girlfriend. They looked so good together. Hijikata hated the feeling of jealousy welling in his chest. It flooded him with an explosive yet sad anger. Why wasn’t he happy that Gintoki got a girlfriend? Everyone else seemed to be fine with it. Why wasn’t he? Emotions that he had been bottling up ever since Gintoki received his confession threatened to push past the surface, but Hijikata shoved them down. Tears sat on his eyeline, yet the boy denied them their due, blinking them away. 

Gintoki turned back, too, watching his best friend’s retreating figure. His heart ached for some inexplicable reason. He missed the warm feeling that burgeoned in his chest everytime Hijikata came closer. Even though his girlfriend was next to him, it wasn’t the same.

  
  


———

Over the next couple of weeks, things became strained between the Hijikata and the rest of the group. Everytime any of them invited Hijikata to hang out after school, he would always come up with an excuse to reject their invitation. Even during lunches, Hijikata would hang out with Kondo and Sougo, his fellow kendo club members, to discuss the upcoming national competition. 

Gintoki transformed into a grumbling mess without his daily dose of Hijikata. All he could talk about these days was how much he had missed Hijikata with the Joui Four and even his girlfriend.

The other boys would give each other looks as they tried to decide what to do about their moping friend. They felt like the matter was too delicate and that it needed to be resolved between the two parties involved. Plus, they were _boys_. How were they supposed to even bring this up? Gintoki’s head was harder than a rock, and Hijikata was more stubborn than a mule. The two worst people had somehow ended up falling for each other and neither of them even realized it. 

Gintoki’s griping and obliviousness became so bad that even his girlfriend had had enough of it. 

“All you talk about is Hijikata this and Hijikata that! It’s like I don’t even exist!” 

Gintoki didn’t really have much to say there. “Why don’t you just date Hijikata-kun then! I’m obviously not the one you care about!” 

And thus, Gintoki’s first girlfriend broke up with him, running away crying and leaving the stupefied boy behind. For some reason, the first thing he felt was relief, which was weird, because wasn’t he supposed to be sad? He didn’t really know how he should feel, but for some reason, the first thing he wanted to do was tell Hijikata. 

But no matter how hard Gintoki had searched for Hijikata at school that day, he could not find him. If he hadn’t known any better, it was as if the boy was purposely avoiding him. Finally, after a full day of trying to find some alone time with Hijikata, Gintoki finally cornered his friend after school. 

“Hijikata! I want to talk with you.”

“I’m busy.”

“I feel like I haven’t seen you at all over the past couple of weeks! Are you avoiding me or something?”

“I have to have to go to kendo practice.”

“Bullshit! I talked to the Gorilla today, and you have Wednesdays off!”

Hijikata turned around. “Don’t call the club president a gorilla!”

_Finally,_ Hijikata met Gintoki’s eyes. 

“Seriously, did I make you angry?! Why have you been giving me the silent treatment?”

Hijikata was taken aback by the fervent scarlet red of Gintoki’s eyes. He tried to back away, only to find a wall behind him. 

Gintoki closed the gap between them.

Gintoki wasn’t looking at Hijikata’s eyes now. “If I did something...I’m sorry.” Apologies didn’t come easy to the white-haired boy, but Hijikata’s friendship would supersede his pride anyday. 

There was no emotion in Hijikata’s voice when he responded. “Look, I’m busy, alright? Why don’t you spend your free time with your precious _girlfriend?”_ The last word was dripping with so much acid that it could melt a hole through the floor. 

Gintoki was confused. What did his girlfriend have to do with this, anyhow? “What are you talking about? I’ve been wanting to spend time with you, too! You’re my precious friend!” 

Hijikata’s face twitched at the last word. “It’s not like I asked for your friendship! You just kept shoving your face into my business everyday and dragging me all over the place. Why don’t you take your stupid friendship and just—”

Gintoki couldn’t take it anymore. The rage building up inside him made his chest feel like a nuclear reactor about to explode. Every word Hijikata spat out cut wounds into his heart. Had Hijikata been pretending to be his friend this whole time? Did he find Gintoki that intolerable? He didn’t know what to do. In that moment, all his reasoning was thrown out the window and his fist spoke for him. 

Gintoki’s fist came flying in from the side. But at the last moment, he saw Hijikata’s blue eyes again. He redirected his fist just in time into the wall. The red receded from his vision as he bit down on his tongue. He dug his fingernails into palms, hard enough to draw blood. The white-haired boy needed the sharp pain to draw him back to reality. He had almost resorted to violence to express his emotions again. 

Gintoki closed his eyes and took in three deep breaths like his therapist had taught him. When he opened his eyes once more, he was staring into Hijikata’s unwavering face. 

Gintoki thought back to the day he saw Hijikata introduce himself to the class. Those striking blue eyes told him one thing: that kid was definitely looking for a fight. It was what drew him to Hijikata. He knew if they met back when Gin fought anything with a pulse, they’d be brawling in an alleyway within the first glance. Even with Gintoki’s fist flying at him, Hijikata did not so much as flinch. The stubborn boy had simply prepared to retaliate in kind. 

Gintoki could not believe that of all people, Hijikata was the one standing at the end of his fist. When he pulled his hand back from the wall, a noticeable dent lay in its wake. His knuckles ached, but adrenaline kept him from feeling the full brunt of the pain. 

“Fine, I’ll leave you alone,” Gintoki’s spat out. Those parting words left both boys breathless in their wake. Their friendship crumbled before their very eyes, but no one could say anything amidst the turmoil. Gintoki left and didn’t look back. 

———-

Gintoki wandered around aimlessly for who knew how long. Eventually, his feet led him to the park halfway between his house and the school. He didn’t want to go home. Shouyou wouldn’t be back until tomorrow since he was held up with a research project at his job. He couldn’t stand being all alone with his thoughts and the emptiness left by Hijikata’s absence. 

He sat in the swing, dejectedly moving back and forth, trying to keep himself in motion to avoid the full force of his dizzying thoughts. 

“Heyyyy! I found him!” A familiar voice called out. Katsura gestured Sakamoto and Takasugi over to where their friend was. 

“We’ve been looking for you! Did you forget there was an online Smash tournament tonight? We’ve been talking about this for weeks!” Katsura chided. 

“Hijikata and I got in a fight,” Gintoki blurted out, not able to keep the chaos inside. 

“Who won?” Sakamoto received a stomp on the foot. _“Read the room,”_ Katsura chided.

“No, I wished it had been an actual fight.” Gintoki knew how to recover from those. All he had to do was wrap bandages around his wounds and ice his sores, but there was no quick medicine to mend the wounds of a broken heart. 

Gintoki had always been the type to keep the things that bothered him inside. He thought it’d be better to not burden his friends with such dark emotions. But Shouyou had taught him that it was okay for him to ask help if he ever felt overwhelmed. He found the courage to tell his friends what happened with Hijikata. He lamented over his broken friendship with one of his best friends.

Katsura looked imploringly at Takasugi and Sakamoto. It was time they stopped avoiding the awkward conversation that had loomed over them for so long. 

“Gintoki, I don’t think what you really want is for Hijikata to be your friend again,” Katsura started.

“What are you talking about?”

“What I’m saying is that everyone can see that Hijikata is _special_ to you. And that’s why you keep talking about how much you miss him these past couple of weeks.”

Sakamoto added, “Look, the way you two act around each other isn’t just ‘bros being bros.’”

“I still don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“THAT’S IT!!! I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS!!” Takasugi screamed. There was no point coddling this idiot any longer. “Look, Gintoki! Would you suck any of our dicks?” The question completely shifted the entire mood of the conversation. 

A simultaneous _‘ugh’_ echoed through the park. All the boys grimaced at the mental image of the question, trying to bleach it from their minds.

Takasugi rolled his eyes, not caring whether or not he scarred his friends. “Point taken. Now, would you suck Hijikata’s dick?”

Gintoki thought about it and honestly, he wouldn’t even hesitate if it were Hijikata. He started to get starry-eyed thinking about the scene in question. He would be so cute with his eyes all shining and his cheeks blushing and...

Several snaps in front of his face drew him back from fantasyland. Takasugi crossed his arms, giving Gintoki a hard look. “Do you understand now the difference between our friendship,” he gestured between the four of them, “and your relationship with Hijikata?”

_Oh._

Realization hit Gintoki like a shit-ton of bricks. Every time he got lost in Hijikata’s eyes and his heart threatened to burst from his chest, that wasn’t heartburn. And when his stomach churned every time he touched Hijikata, that wasn’t constipation! _It was love!_

Gintoki had to go find Hijikata right now. He couldn’t lose him. The sugar addict ran as fast as his legs could take him. Hijikata had to still be at school. He ran to the gym, where he thought kendo practice might still be taking place.

When he got to the courtyard in front of the gym, what he saw filled him with rage. Hijikata was standing in front of his club president, _crying._ Gintoki had never seen the boy cry before. Rage surged through him at the thought of someone hurting his best friend. Gintoki’s fist flew across the air, hitting Kondo square in the cheekbone. He immediately tried to shake the biting pain from his hand. What was the gorilla made out of? 

Kondo fell to the floor due to the impact of the punch. He groaned and managed to get back up, cradling his injured cheek. Gintoki almost went in for another hit, his seething rage blinding him to all else, but Hijikata grabbed onto his arm, holding him back. 

“What are you doing?!” 

“I thought —I thought he hurt you,” Gintoki replied as he deflated. 

“No, you idiot! I was crying because of you!” Hijikata yelled, fuming that Gintoki had made an ass out of them both in front of his club president. 

Gintoki’s heart dropped. So _he_ was the one that made Hijikata cry until his eyes were red? His hand rose to cup the black-haired boy’s cheek, thumb wiping away his tears. 

“I’m sorry.” Gintoki didn’t even know what he was sorry for most. 

Kondo felt like this was the best time to excuse himself, sensing that this was becoming a rather intimate moment between the two boys. “I think I should go. Hijikata-kun, feel free to take a rest from Kendo practice tomorrow. You need your rest.”

The two boys silently stood there in the courtyard. Gintoki stared at Hijikata’s tearful face under the warm rays of the sunset. His tears shone like jewels as they ran down his face. Eventually, the black-haired boy calmed down enough for him to talk. 

Hijikata brought a hand up to place it onto Gintoki’s. “Does your hand hurt?”

“A lot, yeah.” 

“I could have told you that Kondou-san has the hardest head in the club.” 

Gintoki let out a snort, and the air of tension lifted a bit. 

“My girlfriend dumped me,” Gintoki blurted out.

“Oh,” was all that Hijikata could reply. But he finally lifted his head up to meet Gintoki’s eyes. “How come?”

“Something about how I went on and on about you and didn’t pay enough attention to her.”

“I thought you guys would break up because you never paid for the dates.”

“That might have had something to do with it, too. But I didn’t mind as much since I realized that I like someone else.”

Hijikata went silent. 

“I like you, Hijikata.” Those special words made Hijikata’s face light up like the fireworks exploding in the night sky and Gintoki had never seen anything more beautiful.

Hijikata honestly hadn’t known what to say. For all the scenarios he had imagined over the past couple of weeks, he never had imagined what could have happened if everything went _right._ He thought their friendship was irredeemable after he had so rudely rejected Gintoki before. 

But weeks of repressing the truth made Hijikata feel like he was about to explode. So instead of some snarky deflection or trying to act dumb like he usually would, he finally let free the words that had been buried deep within his bruising, tender heart. 

“I like you, too.”

——-

The walk home was quiet. Only the sounds of cicadas rang through the air, ridding the need of any unpleasant conversations. The boys stopped in front of Gintoki’s house, not knowing how to go about this. 

“My dad isn’t coming home till late tomorrow afternoon. Do you… want to stay over tonight?” Hijikata could only nod. His heart was stuck in his throat. 

Hijikata decided to wash up first since he had just come out of kendo practice. While the black-haired boy was in the shower, Gintoki had texted the other boys that he made up with Hijikata and he’d be spending the night at his house. The only reply he received was a winking face from Sakamoto. 

Once Gintoki had washed up, he sat down awkwardly beside Hijikata on his bedroom floor. Neither of the boys was the best with words, so they had reached a stalemate. What was surprising was that Hijikata was the one who ended up breaking it. 

Hijikata slowly reached his hand out to touch Gintoki’s. The white-haired boy looked over, finding Hijikata’s face ablaze with a nervous gaze. The mayo addict wanted to do something with Gintoki, but he still wasn’t brazen enough to say it out loud. 

But Gintoki was dumb and brave enough to try. He laced their fingers together, basking in the warmth shared between them. “Hey...can I kiss you?”

Hijikata’s flush spread to his neck, but he still managed to give a nod. Gintoki dove in at the same time Hijikata raised his head, resulting in the most painful and awkward first kiss in history. The two boys knocked their teeth together and threw their heads back in pain. Gintoki felt his lip throb, having accidentally bit himself. 

A chuckle bubbled up in his chest at the whole ridiculousness of it. It was so much easier to touch Hijikata when they were both unconscious of their feelings. But it was almost impossible now that they were so hyper-aware of each other. 

“Stop laughing, you idiot,” the self-conscious Hijikata chided, feeling embarrassed about what just happened. “That was my first kiss and we just ruined it.”

A sly smile stretched Gintoki’s lips. “Well then, I’ll just go ahead and steal your second.” He reached out to cup Hijikata’s face. His lips descended confidently this time, angling the black-haired boy’s head to meet him. The soft press of their lips upon was sweeter than moonlight. 

Hijikata’s eyelids fell like curtains as he reveled in the firm press of Gintoki’s lips upon his. The white-haired boy separated himself, feeling emboldened by the dazed look on Hijikata’s face. “I’ll take your third, too.” And he closed the gap once more—this time turning up the heat. He tongue slipped out, licking Hijikata’s bottom lip. 

Hijikata gasped in surprise, not expecting Gintoki to escalate things so soon. Guess he wasn’t the only desperate one in the room. That night, the sugar addict stole all the subsequent kisses from Hijikata until they both lost count. Kissing Gintoki was so sweet—it was like having chocolate melting against his tongue. 

Gintoki managed to get Hijikata up onto the bed, which was a feat in itself given how tightly the boy clung to him. The black-haired boy always smelled like fresh laundry, which was pleasing to Gintoki. While his lips were busy, Gintoki’s hands explored the other parts of his best friend’s body. Hijikata flinched suddenly, causing Gintoki to stop.

“It’s nothing,” Hijikata tried to placate the worry whirling in the sugar addict’s eyes. “I’ve got some bruises from kendo practice.” Gintoki lifted his shirt to see bruises blossoming across Hijikata’s ribs. His hands gingerly wrapped around his best friend’s waist and he placed feather-light kisses onto the bruises. Hijikata forgot how to breathe as he felt Gintoki’s warm lips travel along his cool skin. 

Gintoki kept kissing Hijikata, making the boy grow hotter the lower he went. The black-haired boy stilled when he felt Gintoki hook his fingers into his underwear. The sugar addict paused, waiting for his permission. When Hijikata gave his approval, his underwear came flying off faster than the speed of light. 

Gintoki was eager to say the least. Gintoki had seen Hijikata naked a few times before, but never like _this—_ like he was ready to be devoured by Gintoki. Hijikata was already half-hard from only just kissing. ‘It should be a crime to be this cute,’ the sugar addict thought as he looked at Hijikata's blushing face. 

Growing impatient, Hijikata rose up to throw his shirt across the room. His hands went for the hem of Gintoki’s shirt and gave it an annoyed look. “You have _way_ too much clothes on.” Gintoki smirked as he allowed Hijikata to undress him, too. The black-haired boy laid on top of Gintoki, kissing him as he rutted against him. Their dicks rubbed against each other, sweat and precum making the friction in between them even more heavenly. His hands came to knead Hijikata’s ass, marveling at how plump it was. 

Fuck, he wanted his dick in Hijikata— _like,_ _yesterday._

He gave Hijikata’s ass a playful slap, and the boy whined in confusion. Gintoki put one finger up to ask for a moment and dug under his bed. He let out an excited ‘woohoo’ when he found the bottle of lube. Neither of them had the patience to clarify why Gintoki already had the lube. 

Gintoki gently guided Hijikata back down onto the bed and settled between his legs. He poured an ample amount of lube onto his fingers and tentatively prodded Hijikata’s hole. The mayo addict flinched at the sudden cold intrusion. Immediately, Gintoki retreated, fearing that he had accidentally hurt his best friend. 

“No, keep going,” beckoned Hijikata as he grabbed Gintoki’s wrist and pulled him back. He had been waiting for too long. Gintoki was still worried about the tightness and began pumping Hijikata’s dick to help loosen him up. After a while, Hijikata relaxed even further, his body yielding to Gintoki’s touches. The sugar addict inserted a second digit and eventually a third, loving the way Hijikata’s body squirmed. The heat inside both of their stomachs was growing unbearable. 

When Hijikata arched his back so beautifully, forcing his ass deeper onto Gintoki’s fingers, he knew that Hijikata was ready. His own dick had been throbbing for a while now, lying in wait for so long. 

Gintoki gave the black-haired boy one last look as he lined up his dick in front of Hijikata’s entrance. “You ready?” was all he could grunt out in the wake of his overwhelming desire. But he still needed to make sure a Hijijata was taken care of, first and foremost. 

The mayo addict nodded and braced himself. Gintoki lined the tip of his dick with Hijikata’s hole. He inhaled and pushed in. The tightness of Hijikata almost made Gintoki forget how to breathe. He pushed deeper, inch by inch. Although it was agonizingly slow for him, it was necessary for Hijikata to take him all in. The sugar addict was rather _big_ after all. 

Gintoki was balls deep into Hijikata when he realized that they were never just _bros being bros._

Gintoki pulled his hips back slowly and watched, mesmerized by the way tears pricked at the corner of Hijikata’s eyes. Hijikata must have been one of the most beautiful creatures in all of existence, and Gintoki was the one fortunate enough to hold him in his arms. When the white-haired boy jerked his hips a bit, the burning pain churning in Hijikata finally gave way to pleasure. 

Gintoki tried some more experimental jerks of his hips, drawing out quiet gasps from the boy. He could tell that the black-haired boy was still holding back. Hijikata, on his part, refused to let any moans out. He was too embarrassed to hear those sounds coming from himself. 

But after a while, Gintoki felt unsure what Hijikata was feeling. He didn’t want to be the only one enjoying it. He wanted both of them to feel good. His fingers came to find Hijikata’s, slowly interlacing them like roots becoming one with the ground. 

“Hey…” Gintoki softly called for his partner’s attention. “Do you feel good?”

Hijikata flushed, and with no clothes covering him, Gintoki watched in fascination as the red spread across his body. Hijikata turned out to be the type to blush with his whole being. “Why are you asking such an embarrassing question?!”

“Because...I won’t know how you’re feeling unless you tell me,” Gintoki calmly explained. Misunderstandings and miscommunication were the whole shitty foundation of their problems. They could have saved each other weeks of heartache if they had just talked in the beginning. 

“It feels good.” Hijikata’s voice was barely a whisper as he looked away. It was impossible to hold Gintoki’s gaze at a time like this. Gintoki’s pride would have those words etched into stone.

“...I like it there…” 

Gintoki’s mouth almost dropped, but he kept a straight face so as not to scare Hijikata off. 

“Here?” Gintoki angled his thrusts in a way that elicited a delicious moan from Hijikata. 

_“Aahnn~_ yes… I want it harder there…”

Gintoki’s dick throbbed. 

_Fuck._

Gintoki’s hips started moving on their own, increasing the pace out of a deep-seated need to bring both him and his lover to satisfaction. He stopped simply pushing in and out of Hijikata and he finally started to _fuck_ the boy for all he was worth. 

Gintoki slammed into that spot that was like an unmute button for Hijikata. The room was immediately filled with the symphony of Hijikata’s wanton moans and desperate cries. Gintoki had never been more turned on by the sound of his voice. 

Not being able to bear this overwhelming wave of pleasure, Hijikata’s body convulsed, and the orgasm that ripped through had him come apart at the seams. His stomach grew taut and his legs automatically wrapped around Gintoki’s waist as if to trap them. But he need not worry, Gintoki would never leave such a paradise. 

Gintoki kept thrusting into Hijikata’s deliciously tight heat, fucking the boy through the wave of his orgasm and sending him into another realm of pleasure. Eventually, Gintoki reached his peak as well, and he shot a bucket load of semen into Hijikata’s hole. When he came down from his high and regained some sense, he marveled at the amount of cum spilling out of his lover’s hole. Hijikata was lying there, placid and limbs melting into the mattress. 

Gintoki, the one with the god-like stamina, continued to slowly fuck Hijikata for this languid encore to their first love-making. He was pushing his come deeper and deeper into Hijikata’s hole, marking it as his territory. He took one of Hijikata’s hands and placed it on his stomach. 

“Can you feel that?” With Hijikata’s stomach being so tight and with Gintoki’s dick being as big as it was, they both could feel the movement of Gintoki’s dick pumping into Hijikata. That spurred the two boys on even more. 

Once Gintoki felt like Hijikata had milked his dick for all it was worth, he rolled his hips one more time, rubbing against Hijikata’s sweet spot for one last measure and pulled out. _So much_ of his semen spilled out of Hijikata that he felt a bit bad. But the surge of pride he felt after joining with his lover triumphed over all else. 

  
Hijikata’s eyelids grew heavy, and he fell asleep before Gin finished cleaning the two up for bed. Gintoki covered them both with his blanket and wrapped his _boyfriend_ in his heated embrace. The white-haired boy had never felt more happy than in this moment with Hijikata in his arms. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading my fic. I really hope you enjoyed it! All my blessings to you all and Gintoki and Hijikata <3 May your joy light the way :D 
> 
> This fic was rather challenging to write since I had so much self-doubt, but I'm happy that I managed to finish it. I'm delighted to contribute this to the GinHiji fandom and generate even more love for this wonderful ship through organizing GinBdayBash and GinHijiGin Week 2020. Please check out our [Twitter](https://twitter.com/GintokiBdayBash) and the collections on ao3 to see all of the amazing works!
> 
> Hope you all are safe, healthy, and loved <3 I love you all very much.


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